RE:Iron ore price jumps facing labour shortageAlong the same lines, I read an interesting thesis on Twitter by @paul01young that says that Omicron could reduce Australian iron ore shipments in 2022:
my one bold prediction for iron ore this year is that the price will continue to kick up because….. When Omnicron hits WA properly and finally makes it's way to our iron ore sites in the Pilbara, absenteeism will kick in due to isolation requirements and sickness, this in turn will reduce resource levels on sites and production will fall from our 4 major iron ore producers. Some mines may see production reduced to day shift only and I expect some mines will shut down for periods simply due to a lack of workers or infected village rooms and dry/wet mess halls. This will reduce global supply and push up prices. In fact I suspect that stockpiling in anticipation of a WA mining industry slowdown due to Omicron is occurring now already pushing up the price.